The VE-1 Elintseeker is a mysteriously popular VF-1. Seen for roughly five seconds in Macross: Do You Remember Love, it's origins lay within an even more obscure VF-1 variant, the VEFR-1, which has even less screen time than the VE-1. The VE-1 has been rendered in dozens of resin kits, a plastic kit, and even got its own level in the Macross Playstation 2 game. Perhaps it is its status as one of the rarer 1/55th scale VF-1 toys or perhaps it is the style of the design, which calls forth images of real life aircraft such as the E-2 Hawkeye and E-3 Sentry.

Personally, I think it's about the stuff.

What do I mean by stuff? Well, the VE-1 is notable in that among all VF-1 variants, it comes with a lot of radar equipment, antenna, boosters, and well... stuff. It has a big ol' radar dish over its head, two unique arm attachments, and other little details that make the VE-1 visually distinct and also just darn cool. Yamato's now prolific 1/60 scale VF-1 Valkyrie line has produced what might be the definitive VE-1 toy (of which there are only two others) because out of all the toys, it really gets the stuff right.

The unequipped VE-1 has a very basic color scheme that manages to capture the feeling of early 80's naval aviation. Out of all of the official VF-1 variants, the VE-1 looks like it would be right at home on the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk. In fighter mode, the figure is solid and detailed. You can pick it up and fly it around all you want. The base toy is almost identical to the VT-1 with the differences being the head and the lack of a fill-in piece on the backpack.

The VF-1's designer, Shoji Kawamori, cites the F-14 Tomcat as the basis for the VF-1. Thanks to its aforementioned colors and the two-seat cockpit, the VE-1 is the best realized example of a transformable F-14 style craft.

The VE-1 comes with two pilot figures, both with yellow highlights. The particular two-seat nose section, which the toy shares with the VT-1, is seen present with many of the earliest sketches for the VF-1. The toy features extensive tampo printing as shown here with the "071" numbering and small markings under the cockpit.

The chestplate of the toy features "INTAKE" and "RESCUE" markings.

Around the engine nozzles, you will find "VE-1" and "Beware of Blast" markings. Also the landing gear doors feature additional text.

The stuff is almost perfectly executed. Everything snaps in nice and tight and fits the figure extremely well no matter what mode you choose. All of the extra parts fit in the same manner as the previous VF-1 toys with the only new part being the manner in which the radar arm attaches. The folding tail section of the VE-1 has a cavity where the radar arm snaps in.

"Enemy ship is approaching. Course 107."

The booster section can be partially disassembled to show off its internal mechanisms.

The leg packs also feature a removable cover which reveals a nicely painted radar unit.

Gerwalk mode looks great on its own...

... and with the armor attached.

The fully equipped Battroid is an impressive piece. The radar arm extends to allow the dish to sit over the Battroid's head while the twin booster antenna can rotate to remain parallel to the ground. The toy comes with a set of gun holding hands, but no gunpod or missiles are included.

The armor itself has a couple of cool tricks. Normally the right arm attachment blocks the hand area.

Simply twist the sensor left or right to allow the hand room to flip out.

In fighter mode, the flexible sensor array faces towards the robot's shoulder while it faces towards the hand in Battroid mode. To accomplish this, the whole array can rotate on its mount.

And now for some VE-1 trivia.

The VE-1 normally carries no armament to minimize its threat profile.

VE-1 pilots are encouraged not to engage in close combat unless absolutely necessary.

VE-1 pilots are some of the best in the fleet.

The VE-1 is like a fine champagne. I mean, it costs about as much as a bottle of Dom...

There's not a whole lot I can say about Yamato's VF-1 series that hasn't already been said by the rest of the staff, but the VE-1 stands out from the pack due to its unique set of stuff. A great toy and a fitting addition to the VE-1 legend.

Comments

I just recently picked up my first Yamato (non-kit) piece. The 1/60 VF-1S Perfect trance. It isn't very often when you get a toy and you realize it is acutally worth the price you are paying for it IMO. Mine has almost no panel creases or mold flash, and the seem lines come together perfectly. I can't wait to get this, although it may be the only other 1/60 valk I get.

Say- is there any difference between the Yamato 2.0 VE-1, VT-1, and VF-1D other than head and coloring?

. . .

Ya know what? I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with this particular brand of extra stuff. Being as huge a fan as I am of the VF-1, they can really do no wrong in my book. And the VE-1 fits right in there, with a good degree of sensibility: even the Macross can still have limits on its sensors in range, line-of-sight, and power, and so they need a portable ELINT (Electronic Signals Intelligence) vehicle to expand its range.
And the VE-1 plays into that modern military mindedness: the Vietnam-era EA-6B Prowler is an ECM aircraft based on the A-6 Intruder, and they share the majority of parts between them, two aircraft for the price of one. (Same with the new EA-18G Growler and F/A-18F Super Hornet.)
What makes it work for me is that not only is it a Valkyrie, but it uses hard-points already established, implying that any VF-1 could mount these same parts if need-be (and to me, that is crucial in maintaining continuity). And, it wasn't a brand-new vehicle like the ES-11D Cats-Eye was in the series, which basically ripped-off the real aforementioned E-2C Hawkeye but looked lamer.

Perhaps my only veef with the VE-1 was that it had no kind of self-defense capability whatsoever. The FAST Packs were littered with dozens of micro-missiles, and you're telling me they couldn't even squeeze a pair of 4-packs into the legs or boosters? What about the wings- they had four hard-point spaces there for certain!
Of course, we saw the VE-1 for a total of- what?- three seconds in DYRL, so perhaps we were not shown everything that it could carry. (Missile-guidance jamming, flares & chaff, EMP, etc.)

But I also agree with you, Andrew, that it isn't yet-another Valkyrie repaint that we're fed year-after-year.
(In case anyone's wondering, the cautionary-yellow nose allows crews on-deck to visually recognise what is coming at them; since an ELINTSeeker and a FAST-equipped Valkyrie have the same forward-profile at distance. This is similar to how real Prowlers have a triangular symbol painted on their noses, to differentiate them in the same manner from the identical-profile Intruder.)
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CollectionDX Staff

Well to answer your question, there's not enough depth to the VE-1 role to really argue why it should or should not be armed. Although the basic idea is most AEWC planes don't really need weapons because the fighters they direct have a much better of intercepting potential trouble. In the PS2 game the VE-1 is armed (with a sawed off gunpod to boot) and its mission is to find some Zentradi scout ship while also fulfilling the role it had in the movie. Then again the same game lets you use the VT-1, which can't transform to Battroid mode because the game has no melee combat so doing so without a gunpod would be moot.

Great review Andrew. I must say that I really love this version of the Elinseeker. Man, its looks great in every mode. I think this may be my break through piece in Yamato's 1/60 2.0 perfect transformation valks. I guess I am just a huge fan of all that stuff! I actually really wanted the vintage Bandai 1/55 version but it is way to expensive, thus making this version even more attractive.

I'm with Dan: while I'd like to go with the original 1/55 toys because they're so...toy-etic...the vintage Elintseeker is just too much money for a design that just isn't as tight as this bad boy. I mean, this thing looks almost like a high-quality resin garage kit in each of the images above...and even in the video. But when you start messing around with it and see that it moves--and can be transformed with all the stuff on--it's just plain magic!

Man, these just look way too good. Between this and the Super Ostrich, I'm dying to get one of these. The only problem is the price. If only they were mediocre like Frontier's Messiah Valkyries I wouldn't be so tempted to buy one.